In Disguise
by Watto not
Summary: A lone pretender has lived on earth for years without interruption, content with her human family. When rumors of Mission City spread across the globe, she is not relieved that her kind might have finally found her. She's angry. With her family in danger, her entire way of life is threatened. Torn between two different worlds, Dakota fights for a place to finally call home. OC/BEE
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

When the news showed footage of the destruction at Mission city, overlayed by the voice of a frantic and frightened reporter, the only outward sign that I was in any way affected was the tightening of my jaw and how the silver cutlery in my fist folded like butter.

The two redheaded kids sitting in front of the TV paused from their card game and exclaimed in amazement at the carnage, at the flashes of metal moving between buildings, the huge jets screaming through the city streets, before their equally redheaded mother quickly ushered them away from the screen and upstairs to clean their teeth.

"But muuum!" Oscar and Libby whined as Abby hustled them towards the staircase.

"No buts! It's a school night, you should have been ready for bed thirty minutes ago."

"But we haven't finished our game!" Libby protested.

"I was just about to use my trap card, mum!" Oscar complained.

"You can finish your game tomorrow. Go on! Upstairs!"

The children reluctantly complied, stomping up the staircase while I carefully bent the knives and forks back into their original shape, keeping an ear on the television.

" _-low flying aircrafts and reports of unknown assailants. Military presence is-_ " The camera shook and sounds of an explosion echoed through the television's speakers. The reporter's voice hitched, and then spilled on determinedly over a chorus of frightened voices and screaming. _"- is – is on the scene. Mission city is officially in lockdown do not –_ "

After making sure the kids were safely deposited upstairs, Abby walked back over and stopped beside me, staring at the screen and frowning. I didn't look away from the television as we stood in the middle of the room watching the video footage cut away. Unease rolled inside me, and I placed the straightened cutlery onto the dining room table. What did this mean?

 _You know what this means._

Beside me, Abby shook her head slowly. "The world's going mad."


	2. World Gone Mad

**Chapter 1 World Gone Mad**

For a while I held out hope that maybe the Mission city terrorist attack was just that- a terrorist attack. That may seem like a strange hope to hold, but in my eyes, the alternative was worse. It's not like I didn't know I was selfish.

The next week I took a train into the city, or as far as I could reach before I hit red tape and a bunch of military. Still, it was close enough. Close enough to see the scorch marks on the concrete from guns bigger than a full-grown person, the exposed rebar and cracked glass and decimated buildings. Signs of a particular type of battle – made even more unnerving by the fact they were on earth, in this city that was so close to where I lived, where Amy and Oscar and Libby lived.

I wasn't uneasy anymore. I was _angry_. It radiated from me in waves as I stood behind the red tape partition with the other onlookers. This was my _home_. Why would they be here? This had to be a mistake.

"Miss?"

My gaze snapped to the person standing in front of me. He was wearing black military fatigues and was looking at me very sternly. Without me realising, some of the gawkers surrounding me had been slowly inching away, and now had completely scattered with the presence of someone with a gun.

The officer frowned when I didn't say anything and gestured with his hands to move back. "Step away from the partition please. This is a restricted zone."

He was eying me warily, his other hand hovering near the gun on his hip. At that moment I realized how tense I was, and slowly forced my posture to relax into something a little less aggressive and step away from the tape.

I headed back home, hands shoved into my pockets and thinking hard. Though truly, there wasn't much I could do about this particular problem.

I suggested that we move back to Westward the very next week. Our lease was up anyway, and Abby and the kids were sure to be missing their grandmother. Most importantly, it was as far away from Mission city as I could feasibly move the family without questions being raised.

* * *

It was a sunny Tuesday afternoon when the last person I ever wanted to see arrived on our doorstep.

Before this, everything was just peachy in a comforting, domestic kind of way. It was good to see Willis again. The older woman had welcomed us back to her farmhouse, hugging and kissing all of us in turn, much to the kids' displeasure. When she wrapped her arms around me and pressed her weathered cheek against mine, she whispered into my ear. "It's so good to see you again, Dakota."

Westward was the same as I remember. On the outskirts of suburbia, it was a pseudo farming community with long stretches of single lane gravel roads and pastures of swaying grass and wheat. Houses were far enough away from each other that nosy neighbours couldn't easily spy on each other, but close enough together that they weren't in the middle of nowhere.

To my relief, the kids loved it, despite missing the friends they made back in America. Libby spent most days talking softly to the horses and Oscar dragged me along multiple times a week to explore the 'wilderness', which mainly constituted a small grove of trees and a trickling creek.

Tuesday had been an ordinary day for the most part. I helped Willis with the farm while Abby took care of the house and searched online for new employment. I lifted bales of hay for the sheep, reached high ledges, and slashed the long grass as it continued to grow.

"If you keep this up, I won't have _anything_ to do anymore," Willis complained as she scattered some seed for the chickens while I fixed the coop.

I shrugged, a few nails sticking out of my teeth as I dislodged another nail from a rotted plank of wood.

At sixty, my friend was still energetic and bright, but I had noticed the groaning joints and stiffening fingers. She was getting older. And while this scared me, it was normal, and I wished she would start taking things a bit easier. When I told her this she simply scoffed and threw the rest of the chicken feed at me.

When the kids had gotten back from school, Abby had me start helping her prepare dinner. I had no way of telling if something tasted good, but by the approving sounds she made, apparently I was doing okay with the bolognaise sauce so far.

There was a bite in the air as winter approached and, unlike the city, it felt clean and crisp as the sun started to set. I got the kids to help set the table on the back porch for dinner (with much grumbling), and Abby yelled at them when Willis nearly tripped over a stranded toy, and I think the pasta got overcooked, but with this, and with these people, I could almost ignore the worry that had been following me since Mission city.

And then someone knocked on the door.

"Dakota! It's for you!"

I blinked as Libby's voice rang out, and then frowned at the same time as Abby, who had been wiping her hands clean as she was about to go get the door.

"What I'd tell you about you about answering the door by yourself, young lady!" Abby called back as I moved out of the kitchen. I waved for her to stay and she huffed, turning back to mixing the pasta and mince together.

I padded down the hallway, still frowning, and probably for different reasons than Abby. I didn't get visitors, and I hadn't ordered anything to be delivered to this address.

Before I could dwell on it any longer, the foyer opened up to where Libby was holding the door open and staring up in admiration.

I followed her gaze and paused. A young woman stood on the other side; blonde, tan, and tall in a leggy kind of way. Despite the chill, she was dressed in short white pants, a revealing singlet and a thin jacket with heels way too big to be comfortable or practical, especially in the countryside. Her aquamarine eyes flicked to my face, then down my body in a critical way to the fuzzy socks that Libby had knitted for me, and smirked.

Furrowing my brow even more, I stepped closer, touching Libby's back. The young one blinked out of her daze and looked up at me, excited. "She's so pretty!"

I looked down at the girl, ignoring the smiling woman. "Head back inside, Libby." I said. "Dinner's almost done."

She clearly didn't want too, wanting to know more about this pretty stranger who knew her aunt, but I gave her a gentle push down the hallway and waited until she was gone before turning back to the unfamiliar looking person.

"Heya, _Dakota_ ," the young woman purred, saying my name in a lingering way that made me narrow my eyes. "Nice kid."

I studied her closely. Her appearance was unfamiliar to me, but her mannerisms were hard to forget. Her smirk, the proud slant of her shoulders, her condescending gaze. _Trouble._

My stare hardened and my jaw clenched. Her spark signature was dampened. Which is why I didn't notice her approaching the house. My body coiled up, rocking onto the pads of my feet and leaning forward, a buzzing hum starting to hiss in my chest like a hive of angry bees. My _engine._ It was surreal to hear it.

The woman held up one perfectly manicured finger and tutted. "Now now, cool it, girl. Do you really want to make a scene right here and now?"

"What do you want."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Your manners clearly haven't improved. Come on, we haven't seen each other in ages!" She took a single step forward, intruding right into my personal space, and I tensed even further. She smiled down at me, her eyes a few inches away from my own. At this distance, I could feel her electromagnetic field brush against mine, and then envelope me, stifling. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"

I glared at her, and we stared each other down. In the tense silence, I heard the kids' faint laughter on the back porch. I felt sick.

"Why are you here?"

"For you, of course." Her eyes darted behind me. "Well, and maybe them, if you don't cooperate. You've been alone for far too long, my friend." She smiled wider, revealing more perfectly unnatural white teeth. "It's time to come back into the fold."

* * *

 **AN: Just a quick note, this fic takes place after the first movie, and is definitely not super accurate in terms of keeping with the canon. For example, some bots are going to show up even if they've never appeared in the movies and the timeline will be a little different etc.**

 **Also, most chapters are going to be longer than this one. Just letting you know.**

 **So… what do you think? Are you liking it so far? Have I managed to peak your interest hmmm? Any feedback is welcome!**


	3. Back into the fold

**Chapter 2 Back into the fold**

 _Four months later_

 _Nevada Holding Facility_

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

Will watched the screen as a man in military fatigues scanned his identity card, walked through the open door, passed by the biometric scanner, picked up a sealed container, put it in a suitcase, and walked back out.

Will turned back to the tech guys, who fidgeted sheepishly in their chairs and tried not to meet his eyes. He waved his hand incredulously at the monitor as the security footage replayed. "Who the hell _is that?"_

One of the guys cleared his throat. "That is uh Officer Brad Rickshaw, sir. He's one of the Safekeeper project leads."

"And why exactly is he taking the shard out of the vault?"

"We don't er. We don't know, sir."

He stared at the screen in disbelief as the footage showed them being robbed again and again, like this _wasn't_ one of the most secure sites in the world. Beside him, a strict looking woman stepped closer to the screen, studying the video feed through black rimmed glasses. "That's him alright," muttered Anna Colt, lead of Nevada's NEST branch.

"Apparently _not_."

The _real_ Brad Rickshaw had woken tied up in a supply closest with a headache and his identity pass missing. He was currently sitting in an interrogation room firmly insisting that he has no idea what they were talking about and that he in fact did _not_ steal the last remaining life source for an alien civilisation from the vault.

This meant that either he was lying, or the heavily guarded facility was somehow infiltrated by a person who looked exactly like the guy (with the correct biometrics to match), or-

"Cybertronians…" Colt sighed. "Always making things complicated."

"You think it was one of them."

She looked at him flatly in the way that made him felt like a dumb marine. "It's that, or we really need to fire our HR department." She looked back to the screen. "I'll have a chat with Officer Rickshaw. Go see if your friends know of anything that would be able to do…" She waved her hand at the screen. " _This_."

"And I'll just handle the director as well, will I?"

She clapped him on the shoulder. "That's the plan."

He sighed. Time for another eight-hour flight then. "Yes, ma'am."

The Big guy was going to be _pissed._

* * *

Alice picked her nails as she waited by the large mech's foot, frowning at the dirt particles wedged between her cuticles from the last mission. She sighed and shifted impatiently, wishing she was at the wash racks so she could finally rinse the grime off. But apparently, the boss had other things in mind.

Soundwave, the current bossbot himself, towered above her, silently facing a large monitor that displayed rolling feeds of glyphs and numbers. He was connected to the device via long, snake like probes that coiled from his shoulders. She suppressed a shudder, remembering the feel of those cold needles plugging into _her_ processor not that long ago.

As much as she wanted to leave and recuperate, Alice wasn't stupid – he was perfectly aware of everything around him even _this_ deep in analysis, and would surely note her absence if she were to just walk out.

She sighed again, using her vents to make the sound louder. The large mech continued to ignore her. She started tapping her foot. If she couldn't annoy him into letting her leave the dingy warehouse, then she could at the very least irritate him on principle.

Just as this thought crossed her processor, her audio receptors picked up measured footsteps approaching. Alice watched as an ordinary-looking human male in a suit appeared from around a large storage shelf. She eyed the black suitcase he held as he walked steadily towards them.

Her lips automatically curled into a sneer at the plain looking guise. "Well heya _Dakota_ , nice flesh suit. Is that why you're late? You took a little extra time to pick that one out?"

The other pretender ignored her jab and deposited the briefcase in Soundwave's lowered hand. The surveillance mech rose to his full height once again and carefully unlatched the briefcase with his claws. Even from here, Alice could feel the raw energy being expelled from the small container, like she was standing next to the sun. Suddenly she was angry – how come _Dakota_ was chosen to steal an _Allspark shard_ and she was relegated to babysitting duty?

Soundwave closed the container and placed it inside the subspace storage in his chest. Both pretenders waited as he considered them through the blank screen of his face.

 _::Mission dispatch: Surveillance and cortex leech of human Autobot ally, Sam Witwicky.::_

Alice's eyes widened as the directive entered her mind, and she hissed, pleased. "Sam Witwicky? The human that downed Megatron?"

Instead of answering, Soundwave turned back to the monitor. Apparently, this briefing was over.

She shrugged to herself, and turned to leave. While disappointed that she wasn't getting a break between missions, she was glad that she wasn't going back to that dusty old tomb to watch over a lifeless frame.

She looked over and opened her mouth to chat with Dakota when she realised the other pretender hadn't moved. Instead, she was staring hard up at Soundwave. Even more to her surprise, Soundwave was staring back. Alice frowned at the silent conversation going over her head. Dakota better not be trying to get out of whatever her directive was.

Eventually Soundwave turned back to the monitor, dismissing the other pretender. Dakota's hands clenched, but she turned to leave as well.

Alice kept up with her pace, curious despite herself. Dakota never usually lowered her high and mighty self to talk with any of them. "What was that about?" In typical manner, she was ignored. Undaunted, Alice twirled a length of blonde hair around her finger. She was getting quite attached to this guise. She wondered if she could use it on the human boy. "What'd he tell you to do? Do you have to babysit Megsy as well?"

No answer. Alice grinned. She probably got babysitting duty.

Her thoughts turned inward, away from the sullen con beside her, and more determined. Dakota no doubt impressed Soundwave with the retrieval of an Allspark shard (or she probably did? It's rather impossible to tell what the surveillance mech is thinking at the best of times), so now it was _her_ time to shine.

Alice wasn't just going to interrogate this Witwicky boy – she was going to deliver him straight to their doorstep.

* * *

I sat in a bustling café, sipping on a latte and flipping through a newspaper. I was currently wearing my normal Dakota guise, which was usually an unwise decision while I was on a mission, but I needed the comfort of a familiar form, and it didn't hurt that the guise blended well into the background.

A few tables over there was a black-haired beauty of a young woman, who chatted and laughed with her friends while sipping on their own drinks. _Mikaela Banes_ , said my directive. The atmosphere in the café was light and comfortable. I tried not to think about how I was probably going to end up traumatising the girl by the end of the day if everything went according to plan.

I sighed quietly, a pang of loneliness in my chest. I missed the kids. I missed Abby and Willis. While I'd been calling them on the regular to check in, it had been over two months since I last saw their faces. I had planned on visiting them after completing the last mission, but apparently Soundwave believed this was important enough to warrant no breaks, despite her objections.

Across the room, the Bane girl got to her feet and hugged her friends, promising to catch up soon and making plans to see each other in the future. I folded the newspaper under my arm and left the mostly full cup of coffee on the table as I stood and left the café behind a family of four.

Shadowing somebody was a complicated affair even when you could change your face. Luckily, I was made for this sort of thing. Literally.

I drew up a new guise and watched from the car (which I had 'borrowed' a few days back) as the girl in question left the café and swung a leg over a gleaming black motorcycle. She fitted a helmet over her thick hair, revved the engine, and sped off down the road.

I waited for a few moments before checking my new face in the mirror, making sure I got all the details right, and switched on the car ignition. I had been tailing the girl for the last few days, and knew where she was headed, and that she would be alone.

Time to get to work.

* * *

"Dad?" Mikaela called out, looking around the garage as she took off her leather jacket. When there was no answer, she didn't bother calling out a second time as she rolled her bike inside. Dad had been out of town the last few days, and his ETA on coming home was kind of up in the wind still, so she had the place to herself. Well, mostly to herself.

Muffled curses emanated from the locked toolbox sitting on top of the workbench. As she watched, there was a _bang_ and the container shifted closer to the edge of the table.

"-fragging flesh bags-" _bang_ "-house of horrors-" _bang_ "but noooo, no back up for Wheelie-" _bang_ "-only on the most important mission in the entire _universe-_ "

The toolbox leapt off the ledge and landed on the concrete floor with an almighty _CRASH_. The clip that held container shut flipped open and a spindly blue robot tumbled out.

He paused mid ramble.

"-oh. Oh _heyyyy_ warrior goddess, you're back early."

"If you stop trying to steal my stuff, I'll stop stuffing you in that box."

"Good enough for me." He hopped onto his two wheels and peered up at her. "You got any energon in here?"

She tossed him an old battery, which he munched on enthusiastically, and pulled out the ledger for Custom Cycles.

Mikaela was almost as good as her dad when it came to bikes, but even she couldn't handle their entire customer base by herself. Her dad wanted to temporarily shut down the garage while he was away, but with money being like it is, she flat refused. She kept on one guy to help her out with the customers, but these days she spent most of her time working. Greasy and lecherous old men aside, she enjoyed it.

As she ran through the numbers for this week, she kept an ear on Wheelie. If he happened to sidle up next to her, she would glare at him until he wheedled away from the safe planted next to her boot. She wasn't sure why he was still hanging around when it was obvious she would dismantle him before he laid those creepy orb eyes on the shard, but she didn't care enough to punt him out of the garage. After all, he wasn't exactly a threat.

Somebody cleared their throat and she jumped. Standing across the garage from her was a plump woman in a knitted cardigan who hovered sheepishly by the garage entrance.

"H-hello? Are you open right now?" the woman asked, looking a bit embarrassed.

Mikaela instantly straightened and put on her best customer service smile, glancing discreetly towards where she'd last heard Wheelie grumbling to himself. To her relief, instead of a small blue robot, there was now a battered-looking toy monster truck sitting on the floor.

"Actually you're just in time," Mikaela moved around the workbench and waved the woman in. "I was just about to put out the sign. What can I do for you?"

"My _van_ ," the woman sighed exasperatedly as she followed her in. "It's just given out on me! I've got to pick up the kids this afternoon. Is there anything you can do? I promised to carpool today."

Mikaela smiled and tried to exude calm to the obviously distressed lady. "I can take a look, sure. Is the van nearby, or…?"

"It's just outside," the lady sighed in relief. "Thank you so much. You know, I didn't even know this place existed before I broke down next to it."

Mikaela chuckled as she went to fetch a toolkit. Might as well save the trip and bring it with her. "We get that a lot." She lifted the container and turned. "You might be just a little low on coolant, but we'll-"

The sound of a small engine revved in surprise before pain burst across her temple.

Suddenly she was on the floor, toolkit scattered beside her, and couldn't remember how she got there. White spots danced across her vision and there were angry voices speaking around her.

"-hey, back off! I was here _first_ -!"

She looked up just in time to see Wheelie fly across the room and smash headfirst into the concrete wall. Cracks were left behind as he fell to the floor, groaning.

Panic seized her and she tried to roll over, clumsy from the ache in her head. A pair of sensible flats stepped directly in front of her face and she stiffened.

Strong hands grabbed her and flipped her onto her back. Mikaela surged upwards, but a knee dug into her ribcage, pinning her to the floor. She struggled wildly, trying to push the weight off her, but she choked as the pressure increased and she couldn't breathe in.

She opened her mouth to call out when a firm hand came down and quickly silenced the sound. Mikaela gripped the immovable wrist and glared in disbelief up at the lady. At the plump, middle-aged soccer mum with the van out front.

The stranger looked down at her neutrally, like she was bored, and Mikaela watched as the skin of her other hand split delicately to produce a squirming, metallic worm-like creature.

Horror struck her as the lady moved the creature closer to Mikaela's face. She thrashed violently, desperately trying to get away from that writhing _thing_.

The woman _hushed_ her, like she was a misbehaving child. "Hold still," she said. "It'll be over soon."

Mikaela's breath grew harsh and a few tears trailed down her cheek. As the hand on her mouth moved to her neck, she couldn't stifle the gasp that broke out of her.

All at once, the squirming thing slipped past her lips and up her nose. She felt its slimy feelers crawl up behind her eyes before her head slammed back against the floor, blind to the world except for the blurred rush of memories and sensations and thoughts.

Time passed.

She couldn't tell how long it was before the worm was pulled from her head, but she choked when it was and somebody screamed. _Me, it was_ me _._

The pressure on her chest disappeared, and she curled up into a ball, her thoughts a nauseating jumble, and tried not to throw up. If she had been coherent in that moment, she would have seen the soccer mum retract the worm back into her hand, walk over to the locked safe beneath the workbench, rip the reinforced door off its hinges, and extract the bag inside. Then she walked back out.

Mikaela didn't move and kept both hands clamped over her mouth, even when the garage settled into silence and she was alone.

Well… not completely alone.

There was a soft whirring noise, and she saw Wheelie roll closer to her shivering form.

"Hey uh… are you okay, fleshie?"

She didn't answer, still trying not to throw up. In the back of her mind, shame sparked at the realisation that she'd just lost the last remaining Allspark shard. The thing she'd promised Sam she would keep safe until Bee came to collect it. She squeezed her eyes together. _Stupid._

Wheelie fidgeted next to her, before sighing and rolling a bit closer. Mikaela twitched in surprise when she felt a warm, purring mass huddle against her side.

"…man what a bitch, huh," Wheelie muttered, curling closer.

Together they waited until she stopped shaking.

* * *

 **AN: Apologies to those who expected Dakota to be a bit more of a... _heroic_ character haha. I like my OCs with edges :D **

**As always, I'd love to hear what you think!**


	4. Robot Rumble with BUMBLE (bee)

**Chapter 3 Robot Rumble with BUMBLE (bee)**

Making it back to the impromptu decepticon base without being detected was stressful to say the least. I had definitely _not_ been expecting to find another Allspark shard, and had nothing on hand to dampen the signal it emitted with blazing intensity.

And so I drove out to the abandoned warehouse with my woefully lacking scanners sweeping the area, tensing up every time a vehicle approached. It wasn't a good time.

The pinewood forest grew thicker around the road, and the ground rose and dipped with hills. Eventually I pulled the car off the main road and drove down a narrow dirt track leading further into the plantation.

An old warehouse appeared – its glass windows cracked and cloudy with dust, the corrugated iron walls rusted and sprayed with graffiti tags, though no human had visited the old plantation for quite some time. I stopped the car and grabbed the shard – stored in a _sack_ of all things – and climbed out.

Unlike most cybertronians, I was small enough to use the human entrance. The inside of the warehouse was musty and dark, and filled with empty storage shelves. I walked past these and unlocked another door, walking up the stairs behind it to an office room that overlooked the main floor of the facility. Several spark signatures registered on my scanners, one of which fluctuated erratically from barely there to angrily strong.

I cautiously stepped out onto the raised platform and watched as a vibrant red mech extended the arm of a colossal, gunmetal Decepticon. A Decepticon I hadn't seen in a century.

Megatron growled, his engine sounding like thunder in the large space, and ripped his arm away from Knockout. "Enough of this." He snapped, and the red medic shrugged and wisely retreated.

The Decepticon leader's burning optics were trained on me. It felt much like twin lasers were pinning me to the ground. He stepped forward, ground shuddering and hydraulics hissing with each step, and towered above me, even standing on the platform as I was.

After years of being around human-sized people, the sheer mass of these cybertronians intimidated me. I wasn't easily broken, but the Decepticon in front of me could easily snap me like a toothpick, cybertronian or not. His presence far overpowered mine, and I felt very small and a little hopeless.

I hated that.

And I was good at pretending. I muted the whine my engine wanted to make and leaned against the guardrail, nonchalantly holding out the hemp sack.

I guarded myself against flinching as he took the bag with his metallic claws. He brought the shard up to his face, greedily drinking in the flare of pure light the artefact emitted, and every con in the room instinctively winced. I didn't understand how he could stand having that much raw energy so close. I was cringing the whole time with it sitting in the passenger seat.

He gave a satisfied hiss and subspaced the shard, muting the signal. "What of the human girl?"

I scratched my neck, trying not to think about how it would feel to have a piece of the Allspark shoved into your storage systems. "Nothing to write home about." The large con sneered in disdain at the human phrase, but I ignored him as Soundwave stepped towards me, holding his hand out.

I blinked, but then withdrew the leech from subspace and placed it in his palm. Of course he'd want to check. Any chance of Allspark energy imparting information to the human population was a problem to begin with for these guys, not to mention if said human was affiliated with their greatest enemies.

Soundwave's servos closed around the worm and he stepped away, back towards the large monitor in the centre of the room. He must have finished analysing it almost instantly, because Megatron dismissed me to stand closer to the surveillance mech, but not before snarling at my human appearance and mannerisms one last time, as he seemed fond of doing. Decepticon disgust of organics was tiring, especially when no part of me was actually human to begin with. Not that it should matter.

As the two cybertronians spoke over the comm., I took the opportunity to study the infamous and newly revived Decepticon leader. Considering he'd been a lifeless husk a couple days ago, he was looking pretty good. Still, he wasn't left entirely unscathed from his brush with death. The grey Decepticon's movements were slow and sluggish, and his optics dimmed quickly if he wasn't focused on anything in particular.

I was kind of surprised that Soundwave's goal all along was to revive Megatron. The enigmatic con seemed capable enough to run the entire Decepticon army by himself. But I supposed he was more loyal to his leader than I had expected.

Next, I glanced at the red Decepticon medic leaning against a nearby platform, picking his sharp claws clean. His paintjob was glossy and smooth, with bright glimmering indigo highlights amongst the red. He turned his silver faceplate towards me, letting me know he'd noticed the attention, and I looked away, not wanting to start a conversation. Based on his reputation, I didn't think Knockout and me would be friends even if he _wasn't_ a Decepticon.

His presence was strange, however. We didn't generally linger in the base between operations, and nobody had been told to leave, so we must be waiting for somebody.

There was a flap of wings and I looked up just as the glass skylight shattered inwards.

As tense as I was, I didn't have room to flinch as something fell through. There was a fleshy thud, and suddenly there was a human boy groaning on the floor of the warehouse, clutching the back of his head in pain. A metallic bird with razor sharp talons swept into the room and perched on Soundwave's shoulder, screeching in a pleased way.

"Heya bossbot!" greeted a familiar smug voice. "You're looking a _lot_ sharper than last time we met, let me tell you."

Alice slipped from Laserbeak's back and jumped from Soundwave's pointy shoulder to the floor, looking up at Megatron with a grin. She looked a little roughed up – some of her guise had slipped, leaving bare patches of frame warping through her human skin, and black skid marks scuffed her knees and elbows.

She looked far from bereft, however. Megatron's was not a visage that encouraged a smile, but Alice looked _delighted._

"Ladybots and gentlemechs, may I present to you…" She bowed, waving her hands with flourish at the boy. "Samuel James Witwicky!"

I narrowed my eyes. There was a pause in the large room as the human boy looked up fearfully, seeing his surroundings for the first time. Then Megatron started to laugh, a horrible, grating, cruel sound. Soundwave stared down at Alice, inscrutable, though I think I detected a hint of disapproval in his carefully held wings and flat electromagnetic field. Laserbeak was grooming himself, paying no more attention to the human on the floor than he would a flea. And Knockout simply looked bored.

"You've got to be kidding me…" the boy muttered, looking up at them all. His voice shook, but he didn't sound as afraid as I was expecting. He scrambled to stand, but Megatron lifted his foot and I stiffened as he stepped on the teenager.

The boy struggled, gasping, and Megatron continued to chuckle, but to my relief, there was no tell-tale _crunch_ of bone breaking. I slowly started to descend the steps to the main floor as Alice gleefully bound over to the restrained human.

I couldn't stop whatever was going to happen, just like I couldn't not assault the Bane girl, or steal from the military. If the boy died, it was none of my concern. I had enough on my plate trying to keep my family alive without risking it all for someone I didn't care about.

But objectively, I didn't think Alice made a smart choice, bringing him here. If what they said was true, and this Witwicky child was the one to fell the Decepticon leader, then it led me to believe that he was greatly valued by a group of individuals who they very much did _not_ want to attract the attention of right now, especially when Megatron was still so weak.

Alice glared at me as I approached them, maybe thinking I would try and take this achievement from her. I ignored her and looked down at the boy.

He was staring at me, which made me suddenly remember that I was wearing my Dakota guise, having had slipped back into it in the car. _Damn_.

Well, he was probably going to be dead soon anyway.

Heated air ruffled my hair as Megatron huffed dismissively. "Even better," he growled in response to something Soundwave must have said, baring his viscous maw. I had a feeling the surveillance mech might be sharing similar concerns to my own. Megatron turned his burning eyes down at us, and the boy flinched. " _Alice_ can do the honours, can't you."

There was a mocking edge to his voice when he said the human name, but Alice didn't appear to notice as she preened proudly and produced another leech from subspace. The boy saw it and started struggling. "Whoa whoa whoa! What the hell?! What are you doing! Stop! _Stop_!"

Alice smirked and kneeled by his head, re-enacting a familiar scene as she brought the leech closer to his face. "Might as well see what he's got crawling around in here, huh Dakota?"

I glanced away and stared at the floor, anticipating the gurgling sound of the creature worming into its hosts brain, and just waited for it to be over with.

Instead, the wall caved in.

 _ **BOOM!**_

The wall burst inwards. A piece of shrapnel struck my shoulder and I staggered. There was a loud metallic clash and Megatron's foot was no longer pressing the human down. He was taken off his feet by the impact of an equally large mass of red and blue. Wind whipped against me as they flew past and crashed into the shelves behind them.

I took a shocked millisecond to appreciate that I hadn't been taken out by a large red and blue Peterbilt before I activated my combat subroutines. My sensors flared into optimum sensitivity, my reaction times sped up, and the spark inside my chest pulsed quicker, pushing energy through my limbs.

It was because of these rarely used reflexes that I was able to awkwardly deflect the plasma canon pot-shot aimed at Alice's blonde head.

I looked up at the new hole in the wall and focused on the second attacker, ignoring the transforming Peterbilt behind me for now, as well as the surprised glance from Alice. Through the settling dust, a yellow and black mech rolled into the room, raising a humming plasma canon, and I darted forward.

I closed in on the mech too fast for him to react and hopped. One, two, three steps I ran up his chassis before swinging my leg around in a roundhouse and kicking him in the helm with all my strength. The yellow mech staggered back in surprise, and I landed lightly in front of Alice and the boy.

Unfortunately, the mech was unhurt, protected from the blow by his raised battle mask. From the flare of his doorwings however, he hadn't been expecting the hit. He shook his helm and emitted an indignant beep and a " _oh you're asking for it_ now, _buddy_ " that sounded like a recording from an old movie before making me scatter with a few well-aimed shots of plasma.

I focused on keeping him away from Alice, who was - with a lot more urgency now and a lot less mocking - interrogating the boy with the leech. And it consumed _all_ my attention. The yellow mech was trying his best to move past me and destroy Alice with everything he had. I needed to activate my own weapon systems to keep him back.

Trust me when I say it's no cake-walk trying to distract a being that's over twice your height and a literal ton heavier.

I had to trust that Megatron and the other Decepticons were keeping the Peterbilt busy, and anything with the words 'Megatron' and 'trust' was a situation I didn't appreciate being in. Still, I felt their chances were good, even if they were going up against a Prime. Soundwave had at least one of his symbiotes with him, and probably more tucked away in his chest, and rivalled Megatron himself in deadliness. Knockout had a penchant for cruelty, but I wasn't confident that he wouldn't just peace out and leave them to deal with it instead. Megatron was still weakened, but with Soundwave by his side and only two Autobots present, I didn't think it was likely he was going to be offlined a second time.

The boy cried out behind me, and the yellow mech's engine whined in frustration. This took me aback for a second. There was a surprising amount of emotion packed into the sound. He grew more desperate, and usually this made an opponent sloppier, but this guy just got _faster._

I tried shooting him in the knees with my blaster, but he transformed and skidded around me, tires screeching. Using my other hand, I folded out a razor-sharp pincer from my forearm and hooked his car door. Once I felt the blade lodge firmly in his plating, I think something in my back nearly popped out as I used his momentum to swing him back around, away from the boy and throwing him a little ways away.

He didn't pause – transforming and leaping back at me, his own blades drawn and engine revving ferociously. I jumped up to meet him, but he surprised me by dodging past me instead. For a split second, he was in my blind side, and he took advantage.

A large hand closed around my leg and he _threw_ me.

Air rushed past before my back cracked against something hard. I fell to the ground in an avalanche of wire shelving and stored logs.

I didn't get up. For a moment I didn't even know where I _was_ , that's how shaken my processor was.

I heard another _clang_ and Alice flew past me, hitting a platform before falling over the other side. With his obstacles dispatched, the yellow and black Autobot immediately reached out and transformed around the human boy. His engine revved and he shot out of the warehouse, the sounds of his alt-mode quickly fading into the distance.

Well. That was embarrassing.

Quiet settled, and I blinked, realizing this was unusual, considering the brawl that was supposed to happening around them still. I shifted to get up and investigate when I caught a glimpse of my hand.

I flinched.

The three-fingered metal appendage flinched as well.

Horrified, I quickly drew up a guise, not really thinking about which one, which probably meant that I was wearing my Dakota face again. The guise filaments on my arm shivered and changed hue, transforming back into a familiar, five fingered hand.

Once I was appropriately covered, I pushed myself shakily to my feet and looked around. The Decepticon base was a mess. The monitor screen was shattered beyond repair, shelves had collapsed against each other like dominos, and there was _another_ hole in the wall.

I realized the others must have busted through it again while fighting. I couldn't hear sounds of a struggle, so either both sides had retreated or the fight moved to another venue.

I sighed and picked my way over the wreckage toward where Alice had fallen. Wincing at the ache in my back, I heaved the fallen platform off her and offered her my hand. Dazed as she undoubtedly was, the other pretender took it, clutching her helm with a staticky groan as I lifted her to her feet.

Alice had also dropped her guise with the damage she'd taken, and I quickly looked away from her tall, spindly original self. She saw my averted gaze and scoffed. " _Please_. You should be embarrassed by _that_ form." To my annoyance, she didn't bother changing into a guise as she made her way towards the hole in the wall. "Come on. We better go see what the boys are up to."

I contemplated simply falling into recharge right then and there, but after a few moments I dragged my sore frame after her. Sore _body_ , I mean. Dammit.

It was easy to follow the path of destruction through the woods to where Megatron and Soundwave stood around a kneeling Optimus Prime. Laserbeak was nowhere to be seen, but Ravage, the four-legged symbiote, was curled up contentedly in the sun.

The Autobot leader's armour was dented and savagely ripped into. He was leaking energon from multiple wounds, but nothing was gushing, so none of his main lines had been hit. He was currently restrained by the shiny coils that grew from Soundwave's back. He bore the obvious discomfort stoically. As expected of a Prime, I supposed.

Megatron was looking pleased with himself, despite being a little banged up as well. When we stepped into the clearing we could hear his satisfied ranting. Alice ran over, excited, but I hung back and leaned against a nearby tree, tiredly watching the proceedings. I hadn't had to fight like that for a _long_ time.

Soundwave kneeled and took the cortex leech from Alice.

"You're going to want take a real close look at that, trust me," quipped Alice smugly.

Soundwave didn't react outwardly, but Megatron sure did as Soundwave databurst him the information. His optics brightened with greedy intensity and his armour flared triumphantly, and I knew that whatever was in the boy's head was going to screw the Autobots over.

Before the Decepticon leader could open his maw to gloat, everyone in the clearing stiffened, and turned to look at a spot in the forest.

I blinked at the tense change in atmosphere and followed their gazes. When I couldn't see anything of note, I tried to attune my sensors in that general area, but whatever it was, it was too far beyond my range to detect.

Glancing at Alice, the other pretender shrugged, looking puzzled as well. Then a lone Autobot signal pinged my scanner.

I frowned as the Faction ID grew steadily closer. Whoever it was wasn't bothering to hide their signal, but a lone Autobot attempting a direct strike on all of _them_ seemed… unlikely.

 _/Decepticons: retreat/_ Soundwave suddenly ordered.

I twitched at the comm., surprised at the message as the larger bots started transforming into their alt-modes. Alice startled and flared her plates indignantly, stumbling back from the now unrestrained Optimus Prime. Before she could demand what was going on, another Autobot signal appeared on my scanner. Then another. And another.

Suddenly there was _five_ Autobot signals closing in on them. Three they could handle, maybe even four. But with Megatron injured, most of Soundwave's symbiotes on missions, and Knockout who-even-knows where, it became too risky. Megatron growled and rocketed away in his jet alt-mode, and Soundwave quickly followed with his symbiotes.

"Holy. Shit." Alice swore and activated her dampener, her spark signature disappearing from my scanner. I went to do the same and get the hell out of there when the other pretender turned to face me, frowning. "Huh." She looked confused, the guise filaments around her face twitching. Before I could say anything, her arm transformed and she let off a concussive shot.

My knee buckled, and I was on the ground, gasping. The pain hit me a moment later.

Alice stepped hesitantly closer and spoke over my wailing. "Uhh… sorry Dakota. You know how it is," She just looked down at me. I couldn't really decipher her tone, not that I was in the mindset to at that moment. "Can't have you taking the lime light and all that."

" _Fuck… you…_ " I gritted out, clutching my knee, trying to literally _hold it together._ Blue energon ran over my shaking fingers and onto the leaflitter. My guise shuddered, but I kept it up through pure stubbornness alone.

The other pretender shrugged, and turned away. I stared in disbelief at her retreating back.

The sight of her darting away and leaving me to face the incoming Autobot armada alone, injured with a wound she gave me _out of spite_ , filled me with _fury._

 _This wasn't a fucking_ _ **game.**_

I struggled to my elbows, and my engine groaned as I transformed my arm and took aim.

A wad of plasma struck Alice in the shoulder, and I felt a bite of satisfaction as the other pretender cried out, even if I hadn't managed to down her. She soon disappeared into the brush, and in no time at all, I was alone.

* * *

 **AN: How about that new bumblebee movie, huh?**


End file.
